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Edison rolls past Notre Dame for division title

The Spartans scored nine runs in the fifth inning of a 17-3 win in an IAC South Large School tiebreaker.

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Edison's Andy Doland dives safely into third as the throw gets away from Notre Dame third baseman Erik Charnetski on Wednesday during the IAC South Large School Division tiebreaker at Edison.(Photo: ANDREW LEGARE / Staff Photo)Buy Photo

With its lead cut to one run after four innings Wednesday in a division tiebreaker against Elmira Notre Dame, the championship pedigree of the Thomas A. Edison baseball team showed up in a big way in Elmira Heights.

The Spartans turned a 3-2 nail-biter into a 12-run advantage by scoring nine times in the fifth inning on its way to a 17-3 victory over the Crusaders in a game that decided the Interscholastic Athletic Conference South Large School champion. Edison added five more runs in the sixth and earned a place in the overall IAC final.

"The guys have been playing like a team and keeping each other up," first-year Edison head coach Devin Burch said. "In those close games these past few games they've been really getting on each other. I just told them it would take a couple of hits to break us out and the flood gates just opened.

"We needed that big inning and we got it. Once we have that inning, the guys get up and everyone wants to go up and hit at that point."

Edison (14-3) extended its streak of IAC division titles to nine in a row, including the last three in the Large School Division after six consecutive Small School titles. The Spartans face North Division champ Lansing at approximately 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the title game at Elmira's Dunn Field. That will follow the 5:30 Small School game between Tioga and Trumansburg. Lansing (16-3) was a 5-3 winner over defending IAC Large School champion Union Springs on Wednesday in a division tiebreaker on the North side.

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Edison shortstop Sage Pesesky gets set to barehand a slow bouncer before successfully throwing to first for the out during the Spartans' 17-3 win over Notre Dame in the IAC South Large School Division tiebreaker at Edison.(Photo: ANDREW LEGARE / Staff Photo)

Burch became the third different head coach to be a part of the streak, with everyone in the Edison lineup worthy of credit in the clincher. Seven players had at least two hits for Edison, which collected 11 of its 17 hits over its final two at-bats.

Burch said the Spartans are aware of their storied history.

"They know when they put the blue and orange on what they're playing for," he said. "They're honored. Everyone's honored. I'm honored to be a part of this program."

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Sage Pesesky and Andy Doland, the batters at the top of the Spartans' lineup, each had three hits and three runs scored. Pesesky doubled twice and drove in two runs. Kobie Punchard also had three hits, including a double. Chris Becker, Zack Braster, Josh Blunt and Kevin Harmer added two hits each.

Right-hander John Jones went the distance for Edison, giving up seven hits. He blanked the Crusaders (9-6) until a two-run single by Iman McKay cut Edison's lead to 3-2 in the fourth inning. McKay and Matt Smith had two hits apiece for Notre Dame.

"John Jones, he had command the entire game," Burch said. "We threw him Saturday and he shut them down and we knew we were going to go with him again, and he did his job today."

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John Jones of Edison delivers a pitch Wednesday against Elmira Notre Dame in a 17-3 victory in the IAC South Large School Division tiebreaker at Edison.(Photo: ANDREW LEGARE / Staff Photo)

As did the Spartans' offense. The first nine batters reached for Edison in the fifth inning and the Spartans roughed up three Notre Dame pitchers for nine runs on seven hits in the frame. Five more runs and four more hits followed in the sixth inning.

Notre Dame completed a 5-2 win over Edison on Saturday that was picked up in the third inning after it was suspended because of rain earlier in the season. Wednesday's contest was closer to the teams' first meeting, a 29-6 Edison victory. Each team finished 9-3 in IAC play during the regular season.

"Edison's obviously the best team in our league and they played well," Notre Dame head coach John Knapp said. "They're a great, veteran team. I talked to the boys. That's how you approach championship games. They're a veteran team and they played well. We made some young men mistakes throwing the ball around, but that does not take away how Edison hit the ball tonight."

Notre Dame had six errors, most of them coming on throws trying to get Edison runners. Notre Dame had eight errors Tuesday in a 9-1 loss to Lansing. The two tough days followed a stretch of quality baseball for the young Crusaders that Knapp hopes returns in time for the Section 4 Class C tournament.

"You just regroup," he said. "We come back to work tomorrow in practice and get a couple of games in before sectionals and try to right it and see how we play out."